Inspired by a babysitter he surprised in front of the bathroom mirror shooting pictures of herself with his Polaroid, the photographer Uwe Ommer decided to put together a book of erotic self-portraits by inexperienced photographers. The cast of self-portraitists includes a wide range of personalities, from students to artists, actors, stylists, dancers, models, musicians, teachers, and more…but is this art or an example of exhibitionism? Do they all secretly want to be porn stars or webgirls? The digital age of voyeurism has become a comfortably familiar staple of mass culture. The media feeds us the intimate details of tenuously famous personalities, elevating them to celebrities. Scantily-clad college students set up Web cams in their dorms and voyeurs across the world pay to watch them clean their bathroom and lounge around in bed. Do they want to expose their bodies to turn people on? Or is this exploitationism (of who)? Or is this a shout out to girls to Do It Yourself?
Art history lists dozens of examples of ‘fine art’ that crosses the dubious line between art and pornography. Some of the most famous paintings in the world were originally little more than naughty pictures for very rich men. The act of looking or ‘peeping’ was undertaken for the purpose of achieving some sort of sexual excitement. The observer generally did not seek to have sexual contact with th real person being observed. Artists purposely cross the line but intellectualize it away. Peudo-artistic photography magazines produce porn and use the art tag as a disguise. Nothing changes.
The pinhole camera used to take this photograph in Havanna in 1999 was handmade by the photographer(?) for the purpose of taking photos of tourists. In its simplest form, the photographic pinhole camera consists of a light-tight box with a pinhole in one end, and a piece of film or photographic paper wedged or taped into the other end. A flap of cardboard with a tape hinge can be used as a shutter. The pinhole is usually punched or drilled using a sewing needle or small diameter bit through a piece of tinfoil or thin aluminum or brass sheet. This piece is then taped to the inside of the light tight box behind a hole cut through the box. A cardboard box can be made into an excellent pinhole camera.
I’m not sure why I look pregnant?
While I was away enjoying myself, horse riding, drinking and dancing, my wife was hard at work writing her first novel ‘Honeycote’ - nothing changes, still doing the same stuff….
No Pigeonholes
Radio Marabu edition/ August 2008 program2
Hosted by Don Campau http://www.doncampau.com/
program 2: 60:00
Artist/ title/ label-source
GreatDayForUp/ Check This Out/—CD
JP Winslow/ Color/ TEA CD
Breech/ Saboteur/ RU Records CD
The Christmas Lights/ The Water’s Gone, The Fire Has Come/ Pro-Gravity CD This Window/ Avocets/—CD
Something Above All/ Words In A Song/—CD
Bravo Johnson/ Ace In The Hole/ Stone Junction CD
Reptet/ Chicken Or Beef?/ Monktail CD
Tiedye Keith/ Jam OR Jelly pt4/ Tiedye Keith CD
Blind Willies/ Everybody’s Looking For A Meal/—CD
Gaby Tiger/ Silence/—CD
Human Flesh/ To Sharon/ EE CD
Vance Orchestra/ Wallflowers parts 1&2/ EE CD
Review of Veronica Henry’s ‘Love On The Rocks’ from The Evening Standard (3rd July 2006)
‘Have you ever longed to ditch the rat race, escape to the seaside and open a hotel? Love on the Rocks will make you want to quit your job and start packing. Skeletons tumble out of shabby-chic cupboards and star-crossed lovers get their sandy knickers in a twist.....’
‘Love On The Rocks‘, was published on 6 July 2006. It’s a perfect summer read, so pour yourself a Sea Breeze, flop into your deckchair and escape to the seaside village of Mariscombe to find out what happens when George Chandler and his girlfriend Lisa buy a rundown boarding house, hoping to turn it into a chic maritime retreat …
Sea Breeze.
300ml vodka, straight from the freezer
600ml cranberry juice
300ml grapefruit juice
1 lime, thinly sliced
Crushed icePut all the ingredients into a tall glass jug and stir. Pour into individual glasses with a serving of crushed ice and a slice of lime.
Old paintings - I haven’t got any new pictures of my latest work but I have managed to get 4 to the framers. It is a start but I am slacking!The 4 are landscapes that I might enter into the West Buckland Festival Exhibition (’Your Art”). If you want to enter email me. The show is in September 2008. There will be an opportunity to sell your work (less 20% commission) and there will be a preview.
More details
I have had a few people ask me about the cover of ‘Morgue Studio Demos’:
For some bizarre reason somebody left this piece of turned wood on my doorstep. I thought it looked like a cannon off a galleon …. or maybe a wooden leg ….. or maybe an Egyptian mummy ….. barbers were the first surgeons ….. I wish I was a doctor. I wish I had hair. I wish I didn’t get discount when I go to get my haircut.
We have decided to go to the coast - I have been very lazy and haven’t done a painting for months - a fix of sea air and sun always gets me going……
The weather is like Winter - cold, wet and grey - it is all so depressing. I went on a boat and nearly puked - the picture above shows the relief on my face after getting back onto dry(ish) land! (Read more on Veronica Henry’s blog)
I had a great review from Mick Mercer about ‘This Window’s’ Morgue Studio Demos:
“As the stony voice and slithering guitar move deliciously over the stark beat and disdainful bass ‘Where Is My Jesus’ creeps about imperiously and carries a chorus like a sodden flag. You’ll be hooked into its quicksand embrace quickly enough, then ‘Is It a Dream?’ is as mottled as it is muffled, but still cajoling in its inverted, knobbled manner, vocals fluttering, guitar like a basking shark in the doldrums. ‘You Have The Power’ sings back into moody indie intemperance, guitar chafing and rhythm almost invisible, forward propulsion mainly evident on the drumbeat and the guitar sweeping up any mess, and then we wander into the ticking star of the disc, ‘Avocets’ with its dimpled, sedate rhythm that is wonderfully imaginative yet so circumspect, and those bells! A direct tribute to ‘Wolves Of Worcestershire’ by The Dancing Did? Or just my brain rotting?”Read More
